In this day and age, when art has become more of a commodity and art school graduates are convinced that they can only make a living from their work by attaining gallery representation, it is more important than ever to show the reality of how a professional, contemporary artist sustains a creative practice over time.
The 40 essays collected here in Living and Sustaining a Creative Life are written in the artists’ own voices and take the form of narratives, statements and interviews. Each story is different and unique, but the common thread is an ongoing commitment to creativity, inside and outside the studio. Both day-to-day and Big Picture details are revealed, showing how it is possible to sustain a creative practice that contributes to the ongoing dialogue in contemporary art. These stories will inform and inspire any student, young artist and art enthusiast, and will help redefine what ‘success’ means to a professional artist.
'Sharon Louden has invaluably gathered together in this book an exceptionally diverse range of artists’ experiences in order to illustrate, in a manner otherwise inaccessible, the inherent tensions that artists face in constantly balancing their drive to devote core time and energy to creating new work and their wish to share that work with the world with the complexities, as well as the joys, of their personal and family lives.'
PREFACE
Sharon Louden
INTRODUCTION
Carter E. Foster
ESSAYS
Adrienne Outlaw
Amanda Church
Amy Pleasant
Annette Lawrence
Austin Thomas
Beth Lipman
Blane De St. Croix
Brian Novatny
Brian Tolle
Carson Fox
David Humphrey
Ellen Harvey
Erik Hanson
George Stoll
Jay Davis
Jennifer Dalton
Jenny Marketou
Julie Blackmon
Julie Heffernan
Julie Langsam
Justin Quinn
Karin Davie
Kate Shepherd
Laurie Hogin
Maggie Michael and Dan Steinhilber
Maureen Connor
Melissa Potter
Michael Waugh
Michelle Grabner
Peter Drake
Peter Newman
Richard Klein
Sean Mellyn
Sharon L. Butler
The Art Guys
Thomas Kilpper
Timothy Nolan
Tony Ingrisano
Will Cotton
CONCLUSION
Ed Winkleman and Bill Carroll